A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seasoned rice dish or rice mix. Such mixes have been sold as convenience foods in increasing quantities over the last 10 to 15 years. They include a precooked rice together with a mixture of seasoning ingredients. The seasoning mixture may include various components to impart any desired taste or flavor to the finally prepared rice dish.
B. Prior Art
Several product concepts have been attempted which have not proven to be satisfactory and which have not endured in the market place. Among such concepts are coating seasoning elements on the rice and packaging the rice in a transparent film such as polyethylene or celophane. The films have not proven to be adequate moisture and oxygen barriers and excessive loss of flavoring and increasing rancidity have occurred to make the products undesirable. Completely prepared products have been manufactured and distributed as frozen foods. Unfortunately rice tends to retrograde during frozen storage and loses its textural quality. Moreover frozen distribution is expensive and thereby creates an unacceptable cost burden.
A large and successful market has developed in which a quantity of seasoning elements are packaged in a pouch containing polyethylene aluminum foil (generally 0.00035 guage), and paper with a polyethylene coating used to laminate the layers together. The rice is either loosely filled in the carton or in a permeable paper pouch. The rice and seasoning packet are combined in a carton which becomes the unit offered for sale in the retail store. Rice mixes prepared from these rice and seasoning units necessitate the use of two or more preparation vessels in the home (such as a frying pan and a sauce pan) and, depending on the level of processing of the rice, it may require 15 to 30 minutes to prepare the dish.